Arunachal crisis: Dissident Congress group to move court over stay order

Guwahati, Dec 19 (IANS) The dissident Congress group in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday said they will move the Gauhati High Court after it kept in abeyance the governor’s order to summon the winter session of the legislative assembly.

Kalikho Pul, leader of the rebel group,, who has been camping in Guwahati along with some his supporters, said it was the mismanagement, financial mess and corruption by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki that led to dissidence in the ruling party and subsequent constitutional crisis in the state.

He said they will meet President Pranab Mukerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise them about the ongoing political turmoil in the state.

Pul ruled out the alleged involvement of the BJP and the RSS in the developments in the state.

He also dismissed reports of the involvement of Governor J.P. Rajkhowa in the developments that have led to the present constitutional crisis.

A total of 34 legislators — 21 of the Congress, 11 from the BJP and two Independents — recently ‘impeached’ Speaker Nabam Rebia and passed by voice vote a no-confidence motion against Tuki and his council of ministers at the winter session convened by the governor on December 16 and conducted by Deputy Speaker T. Norbu Thongdok.

Subsequently, Speaker Rebia filed a writ petition in the Gauhati High Court against the governor’s order, and a single judge bench of the high court kept in abeyance the governor’s order and asked to maintain status quo till February 1.

Reiterating that law and order has broken down in Arunachal Pradesh, Pul said the governor was in danger even in a highly secured place like Raj Bhavan.

He dismissed the Congress claims that the governor was working as a BJP agent and had turned Raj Bhavan into an RSS office.

He also blamed the Congress central leadership for failing to handle the situation, saying they waited for over two months in New Delhi to meet the top leadership, including party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi but to no avail.